Here are some of the key ideas that can be applied from Janine Benyus's presentation:
0. Scaling in Seashells (3:44)
Pipe scaling is a major inconvience caused by mineral deposits on the insides of pipes. Pipe scaling costs millions of dollars in damages every year, and it has since posed as a problem because it clogs up sewer pipes and becomes difficult to remove. What Janine explains is that that pipe scaling is simply a buildup of Calcium Carbonate: a mineral which builds up on sea shells as well.
Janine indicated that certain mollusks make their shells by absorbing calcium ions from the surrounding seawater. But she also stated that these creatures possess special "stop proteins" which can prevent further calcium ions from accumulating on their shells. These were animals that could manipulate their own calcium deposits!
So engineers in effect could use this same kind of stop protein or a very similar one in order to prevent the scaling that occurs on pipes.
1. Self-Assembly (10:38)
Aside from stating the seashell's ability to prevent scaling, Janine also noted how certain organisms are capable of self-assembly using seawater and calcium ions. This self-assembly feature of many seashells, for example, is something that could be researched and applied to modern-day science and engineering. Self-assembly could be also applied to ceramics and building materials where strength and durability are concerned. With the same method that shells use, she indicated that this kind of assembly may only in fact require simple elements such as seawater.
2. Carbon Dioxide as a Feedstock (13:28)
While the presenter does not spend much time discussing this subject, she recalls how plants filter carbon dioxide out of the air and convert the harmful greenhouse gas into glucose and various forms of starches. According to her, a scientist named Geoff Coates recognized the plants' ability and discovered a very similar way to process CO2. The method used by Geoff converts removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and coverts it into a type of biodegradable plastic.
3. SolarTransformations (13:56)
Another example of biomimicry shows how people are mimicking an energy-harvesting device which is found in purple bacterium. What these scientists have discovered is that the bacterium also uses an enzyme called Hydroginase which can form hydrogen molecules out of simple protons and electrons. Fuel cells themselves use a similar hydrogen-processing technique, but what scientists have also discovered is that the bacteria's version simply runs on iron rather than the platinum we use. (platinum is much much much harder to possess).
4. The Power of Shape (14:47)
This innovation actually deals with several different technological schemes, but there are all ways in which organic shapes can help humans. A Humpback Whale's flipper, for example, is known to possess aerodynamic structures called tubercules. These tubercules actually allow the whale to swim more efficiently, so the presenter states that using something similar on aircraft may increase our own efficiency by 32%. This means better gasoline mileage and less fuel used up considering the distance an airplane travels.
Certain shapes such as those created by a peacock's iridescent feathers also manage to reflect light at certain wavelengths which make the bird appear blue. According to Janine, humans in possession of this light reflection technique (known as thin film interference) may be able to apply color to objects and materials without using harmful pigments such as lead paint.
In addition, there are certain shapes within nature that are designed to be self-cleaning. A leaf for example, possesses a certain outer texture that allows it to be cleaned by water. A company which makes a product known as lotusan has already mimicked the self-cleaning bumps found within leaves: It has applied these bumps to a form of facade paint so that buildings layered in lotusan need only to be cleaned by rainwater. If self-cleaning shapes were applied elsewhere throughout the human world, they would eliminate the need for the toxic chemicals we find cleaning detergent. In fact, they would eliminate the use for detergent entirely.
5. Quenching Thirst (16:08)
The presenter discusses two species of arthropods which possess the ability to convert water from gas into liquid form. One of these two organisms, a Namibian Beetle, absorbs water from fog, while a Pillbug does so even more efficiently in what she refers to as "separating water from air". If used and applied, this kind of water-separation technology will help mankind by allowing people to obtain extra water during droughts.
6. Metals without Mining (16:38)
Relating to the separation aspect, the presenter states that tiny metal particles can be absorbed and separated from wastewater in a similar way to which certain microbes absorb nutrients. She makes a point that people who use this separation method can easily obtain certain metals without the work of having to mine them from rock. (Ore-mining, aside from which, may cause environmental degradation). One company known as MR3 has already begun using this technique on their wastewater filters.
7. Green Chemistry (17:06)
Using this idea would promote the use of organic solvents in our own chemistry. A spider, for example, can make a strong, durable type of silk without ever having to use any sort of industrial-scale chemicals. The presenter describes it as "using nature's recipe book", and the main benefit from using these natural recipes is that humans will produce things using much safer, ecofriendly methods.
8. Timed Degradation (17:52)
This is just another simple idea from nature, and it comes from the byssal threads found on mussels. These threads dissolve on an exact 2-year cue, due in part to some element which the mussel possesses. What it really is, however, is a timed degradation aspect, and applying this timed degradation to the human world would allow certain materials to last longer or dissolve when necessary.
(Glass? Styrofoam? Plastic grocery bags?)
9. Healing and Resilience (18:12)
In most parts of the world, vaccines need to be refrigerated while being shipped, otherwise they become ruined and ineffective. According to the presenter, however, scientists at Cambridge University have already discovered a solution to the problem involving refrigeration and vaccines. Their inspiration came from a tardigrade, which can completely dry itself out for several years and still regenerate afterwards. These scientists applied the tardigrade's survival technique to vaccines by drying them out and placing them in similar sugar-capsules which the tardigrade possesses in its own cells. Essentially, this discovery means vaccines no longer need to be refrigerated.
10. Sensing and Responding (20:54)
The presenter's next big inspiration comes from locust, which often occurs in enormous, tightly-packed swarms (up to insects per square mile). The locusts, however, have sensory receptors which allow them to easily manuever in the air without colliding with one another. A person at Newcastle University discovered the specific neuron which prevents locusts from crashing and has made a collision-avoidance circuitry based upon the neuron's structure. Once it can be applied, this technology will undoubtedly help to prevent car collisions in the future.
11. Growing Fertility (21:26)
No particular organism contributed to this idea, but it rather came from a common aspect in ecology. The presenter adds that humans can create a more efficient way of farming by looking at how certain ecosystems work and adapting so that they can provide more opportunities for life.
A marsh for example can naturally filter out wastewater in addition to creating a very productive ecosystem. The ideas here are not only helpful to mankind, but they're enormously helpful to these ecosystems as well.
12. Life Creates Conditions Conducive to Life (22:42)
This idea is more of the presenter's philosophy rather than a technological innovation. In spite of this, the idea presented here is just a reminder that life creates the soil, air, and environment which is required to sustain more life. That's just about it, really. "Life is not mutually exclusive"
0. Scaling in Seashells (3:44)
Pipe scaling is a major inconvience caused by mineral deposits on the insides of pipes. Pipe scaling costs millions of dollars in damages every year, and it has since posed as a problem because it clogs up sewer pipes and becomes difficult to remove. What Janine explains is that that pipe scaling is simply a buildup of Calcium Carbonate: a mineral which builds up on sea shells as well.
Janine indicated that certain mollusks make their shells by absorbing calcium ions from the surrounding seawater. But she also stated that these creatures possess special "stop proteins" which can prevent further calcium ions from accumulating on their shells. These were animals that could manipulate their own calcium deposits!
So engineers in effect could use this same kind of stop protein or a very similar one in order to prevent the scaling that occurs on pipes.
1. Self-Assembly (10:38)
Aside from stating the seashell's ability to prevent scaling, Janine also noted how certain organisms are capable of self-assembly using seawater and calcium ions. This self-assembly feature of many seashells, for example, is something that could be researched and applied to modern-day science and engineering. Self-assembly could be also applied to ceramics and building materials where strength and durability are concerned. With the same method that shells use, she indicated that this kind of assembly may only in fact require simple elements such as seawater.
2. Carbon Dioxide as a Feedstock (13:28)
While the presenter does not spend much time discussing this subject, she recalls how plants filter carbon dioxide out of the air and convert the harmful greenhouse gas into glucose and various forms of starches. According to her, a scientist named Geoff Coates recognized the plants' ability and discovered a very similar way to process CO2. The method used by Geoff converts removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and coverts it into a type of biodegradable plastic.
3. Solar Transformations (13:56)
Another example of biomimicry shows how people are mimicking an energy-harvesting device which is found in purple bacterium. What these scientists have discovered is that the bacterium also uses an enzyme called Hydroginase which can form hydrogen molecules out of simple protons and electrons. Fuel cells themselves use a similar hydrogen-processing technique, but what scientists have also discovered is that the bacteria's version simply runs on iron rather than the platinum we use. (platinum is much much much harder to possess).
4. The Power of Shape (14:47)
This innovation actually deals with several different technological schemes, but there are all ways in which organic shapes can help humans. A Humpback Whale's flipper, for example, is known to possess aerodynamic structures called tubercules. These tubercules actually allow the whale to swim more efficiently, so the presenter states that using something similar on aircraft may increase our own efficiency by 32%. This means better gasoline mileage and less fuel used up considering the distance an airplane travels.
Certain shapes such as those created by a peacock's iridescent feathers also manage to reflect light at certain wavelengths which make the bird appear blue. According to Janine, humans in possession of this light reflection technique (known as thin film interference) may be able to apply color to objects and materials without using harmful pigments such as lead paint.
In addition, there are certain shapes within nature that are designed to be self-cleaning. A leaf for example, possesses a certain outer texture that allows it to be cleaned by water. A company which makes a product known as lotusan has already mimicked the self-cleaning bumps found within leaves: It has applied these bumps to a form of facade paint so that buildings layered in lotusan need only to be cleaned by rainwater. If self-cleaning shapes were applied elsewhere throughout the human world, they would eliminate the need for the toxic chemicals we find cleaning detergent. In fact, they would eliminate the use for detergent entirely.
5. Quenching Thirst (16:08)
The presenter discusses two species of arthropods which possess the ability to convert water from gas into liquid form. One of these two organisms, a Namibian Beetle, absorbs water from fog, while a Pillbug does so even more efficiently in what she refers to as "separating water from air". If used and applied, this kind of water-separation technology will help mankind by allowing people to obtain extra water during droughts.
6. Metals without Mining (16:38)
Relating to the separation aspect, the presenter states that tiny metal particles can be absorbed and separated from wastewater in a similar way to which certain microbes absorb nutrients. She makes a point that people who use this separation method can easily obtain certain metals without the work of having to mine them from rock. (Ore-mining, aside from which, may cause environmental degradation). One company known as MR3 has already begun using this technique on their wastewater filters.
7. Green Chemistry (17:06)
Using this idea would promote the use of organic solvents in our own chemistry. A spider, for example, can make a strong, durable type of silk without ever having to use any sort of industrial-scale chemicals. The presenter describes it as "using nature's recipe book", and the main benefit from using these natural recipes is that humans will produce things using much safer, ecofriendly methods.
8. Timed Degradation (17:52)
This is just another simple idea from nature, and it comes from the byssal threads found on mussels. These threads dissolve on an exact 2-year cue, due in part to some element which the mussel possesses. What it really is, however, is a timed degradation aspect, and applying this timed degradation to the human world would allow certain materials to last longer or dissolve when necessary.
(Glass? Styrofoam? Plastic grocery bags?)
9. Healing and Resilience (18:12)
In most parts of the world, vaccines need to be refrigerated while being shipped, otherwise they become ruined and ineffective. According to the presenter, however, scientists at Cambridge University have already discovered a solution to the problem involving refrigeration and vaccines. Their inspiration came from a tardigrade, which can completely dry itself out for several years and still regenerate afterwards. These scientists applied the tardigrade's survival technique to vaccines by drying them out and placing them in similar sugar-capsules which the tardigrade possesses in its own cells. Essentially, this discovery means vaccines no longer need to be refrigerated.
10. Sensing and Responding (20:54)
The presenter's next big inspiration comes from locust, which often occurs in enormous, tightly-packed swarms (up to insects per square mile). The locusts, however, have sensory receptors which allow them to easily manuever in the air without colliding with one another. A person at Newcastle University discovered the specific neuron which prevents locusts from crashing and has made a collision-avoidance circuitry based upon the neuron's structure. Once it can be applied, this technology will undoubtedly help to prevent car collisions in the future.
11. Growing Fertility (21:26)
No particular organism contributed to this idea, but it rather came from a common aspect in ecology. The presenter adds that humans can create a more efficient way of farming by looking at how certain ecosystems work and adapting so that they can provide more opportunities for life.
A marsh for example can naturally filter out wastewater in addition to creating a very productive ecosystem. The ideas here are not only helpful to mankind, but they're enormously helpful to these ecosystems as well.
12. Life Creates Conditions Conducive to Life (22:42)
This idea is more of the presenter's philosophy rather than a technological innovation. In spite of this, the idea presented here is just a reminder that life creates the soil, air, and environment which is required to sustain more life. That's just about it, really. "Life is not mutually exclusive"